Taking A Bullet
by lostinthelights
Summary: One ignored instinct, one afternoon, 13 lives changed forever. Written by CertifiedGleek and princessgleeky
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! New story. I know, I know. Suspense again? Can't I take a break from all what is wrong with the world and focus on something happier? I can, that's why I partnered up with princessgleeky for this story! I'm still writing Pathway To Happiness and will do my best to update it regularly! So fluff and suspense with another author. **

**Can you say awesome or what?**

**So, this is the first chapter of this new emotional roller coaster!**

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Rachel Berry carefully stepped out of her car on a chilly Monday morning, wrapping her jacket tightly around her. As Rachel said before, she had a sixth sense and she could tell when something was wrong. She saw something out of the corner of her eye and immediately turned, only to find a squirrel bounding up a tree, storing a nut for winter. Rachel let out a breath of relief and continued to walk to school, her backpack slung tightly over her shoulder. She had a weird feeling in the pit of her stomach that something bad was going to happen. Rachel sighed as she reached the school entrance and walked to her locker, wary of all the people around her as if they were going to attack her. She felt relieved when she reached her locker and found her boyfriend, Finn Hudson, waiting for her by her locker.

"Hey Rach!" Finn smiled before leaning down to press a chaste kiss to her lips as Rachel smiled.

"Morning." Rachel whispered, as if she was afraid someone would hear her. She took out her pencil and things for her AP class.

"Are you okay Rach? You're being awfully quiet and you're wearing jeans." Finn asked, frowning as he saw that Rachel's sexy, toned, mile-long legs were hidden under fabric.

"Well, it was kind of cold today and change isn't bad Finn." Rachel said as she walked away towards her classroom. Finn was confused. No speech on how the cold would affect the condition of her very fragile voice, that if she got to cold she would risk sickness which would mean an end to her career as a famous Broadway actress? Finn shook his head as he followed her. Rachel was rubbing off on him too well.

"Rachel, are you okay?" Finn asked once he caught up with her, reaching for her hand and immediately pulling her back.

"D-Did I do something wrong? Whatever it was I'm really sorry..." Rachel pressed a finger to his lips.

"It's fine Finn, you didn't do anything wrong. I'm just really out of it today. Must be getting my period soon." Finn winced.

"Too much detail babe." Rachel just giggled before tiptoeing and kissing Finn gently.

"I'll see you in Spanish okay?" Finn nodded as he watched Rachel walk away, her hips swaying sensually to the beat. Finn watched with one eyebrow raised as the jeans she wore clung to every curve of her ass, Puck wolf whistling as she walked by. Maybe jeans weren't a bad thing...

Rachel sighed as she looked down on her pop quiz again. The review on pre-calculus was going as well as she hoped. Her head was out of it, her thoughts a million miles away drifting in nothing.

_ Find the function inverse if f(g(x)) = g(f(x))_

Rachel just scribbled down what she knew at the moment and finished her pop quiz, leaning back into her chair and closed her eyes. Why was she so paranoid? Nothing was going to happen to her. She was just having another one of those days before her monthly thing kicked in. That was it. Rachel sighed as she handed her quiz forward to Quinn, who was sitting in front of her. Quinn took one look at the paper then looked back at Rachel, who looked really distracted. The first thing Quinn noticed about her paper was the absence of a gold star. There was no gold star next to her name and her equations were written so... sloppily. Rachel was the queen of neatness and often asked her teacher if there were points for it. After class, Rachel just got her things and walked out the door but was held back by a warm hand on her shoulder.

"Rachel?" Quinn said as Rachel jumped up, clutching her racing heart.

"Quinn! You scared me." Rachel said, trying to breathe deeply to try to calm her down. Rachel was again lost in her thoughts and her body was moving on auto-pilot.

"Rachel? I know we haven't been the best of friends but, are you okay?" Rachel nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What makes you think I'm not?" Rachel said.

"One, you're wearing jeans. Two, your handwriting looks disgusting and three, you didn't put a gold star after your name."

"And that's supposed to make me not okay?" Rachel said as she walked out the door, the Cheerio following her out the door.

"You're Rachel frikin' Berry! When you acted this way, I used to go easy on you. Now, we're family. What's wrong?" Quinn said as Rachel stopped at her locker.

"I don't know Quinn. I'm just, really out of it. Don't worry. I have to go to Spanish. Bye." Rachel quickly grabbed her things and slammed her locker shut before making her way out of the hallways and into Mr. Schue's room. As usual, Finn put his backpack down on the seat next to his and smiled when Rachel came in, immediately taking off his backpack and kissing her cheek.

"You okay now?" Finn asked as he kissed her temple.

"Hey guys, keep the PDA to a minimum okay?" Mr. Schue said as Finn and Rachel blushed, the whole class snickering.

"Yes sir."

Yes, I feel better. Thank you Finn.

Rachel scribbled on a piece of paper and when Finn turned to Rachel, Rachel glanced around the room and saw everyone was still concentrating on their homework check and Mr. Schue was scribbling something on the board so Rachel kissed Finn quickly. Finn smiled and watched as Rachel continued her homework check, writing down her name and putting that familiar gold star after it. Finn smiled to himself. Maybe she was okay after all.

As the bell rang, signalling the end of class, somewhere in McKinley High a gun was being lugged around. It was an a 90mm pistol, ready to go. He carefully kept an eye on it all day, making sure not to draw any attention to himself. At the end of school he quickly went into one of the boy's bathrooms, putting on a black pants and a long sleeved shirt. He couldn't let anyone know who he was. It was going to ruin the whole plot. He waited for the school to clear out and waited for Glee practice to begin, clutching the black mask tightly in his hand. He heard a familiar Will Schuester talking about pitch as he took a deep breath, putting the mask on and reaching into his backpack, cocking the gun as he opened the door, knowing this would change his life as well as her life, but he wasn't leaving until the job was done.

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**Hey guys! Again, me and princessgleeky thought long and hard about this so this goes to show that if you PM me about a story, I just might answer!**

**You like it? **

**Thank you!**

**CertifiedGleek and princessgleeky**


	2. Chapter 2

**I know, I know. It's another suspense story but since two people are working on this, me and princessgleeky, I have time to do both! This chapter was by princessgleeky!**

**Again, CHAPTER WAS BY PRINCESSGLEEKY. (I just did the editing and adding of a couple of words...)**

**Thank you and enjoy.  
**

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"Ok, guys."

Mr. Schuester began with the routine casual introduction, and placed himself on the stool in front of the room. His eyes made a quick sweep of the room and his eyebrows immediately shot upward when he saw Rachel. She was sitting alone by the wall, her head leaning against it as she looked to so lost and deep in thought. And on top of that, she was wearing jeans. The last time she wore jeans voluntarily was when Jesse had broken up with her the week before Regionals.

"Last week, as you remember, you were all assigned to work with harmony in trios. Does anyone have a number already prepared?" Mr. Schue glanced around the room and frowned as no one raised their hands- not even Rachel. Rachel was staring off in to space, lost in thought. She was _always_ peppy, _always,_ even before her time of month. Maybe it wasn't PMS after all. When Rachel had received the creepy email last night, she had consciously brushed it off as spam, or a prank, but in her subconscious, she couldn't push it out of her head, the subtle weirdness that was inflicting her brain. Rachel frowned as she remembered what was written on the email. It was from an unknown sender and she had stumbled across it when checking her email for any response back from the agent of Ms. Barbara Streisand to see if she will title her biography "Reasons why I feel threatened by Rachel Berry."

_Better watch your back Berry._

She was zapped back into the real world when she heard a small crash. Puck was staring at her from the floor and Rachel just looked at him as she stared at him. Puck's eyebrows cocked his eyebrows up. He had slid out of his chair and to the floor, seeing if Rachel would notice and ask why he was on the floor. Instead, she just stared at him.

"Seriously Berry? What's up with you today? No volunteering, no Barbara Streisand, no talks about how the Jewish culture greatly affected the influence on music?" Puck asked as the rest of the Glee club chuckled, including Mr. Schue and Brad. Instead, she just continued to frown.

"Oh, yeah," Rachel chuckled nervously. Mr. Schue was handing out a solo of Fanny Brice and immediately turned to Rachel, who in a small voice said;

"Give the solo to Kurt." Everyone turned to Rachel, who just blushed and cowered to her seat. Mercedes gave her the who-the-hell-are-you-and-what-have-you-done-with-Rachel-Berry look. Mr. Schue noticed that Rachel was uncomfortable under the stares of her fellow Glee club members and cleared his throat.

"Guys, the assignment?" Quinn raised her hand in the air as Rachel looked at her.

"Rachel, Finn and I worked on "Just the Way You Are" by Bruno Mars, which I feel is more than ready to perform, but where's Finn?" Everyone in the room simultaneously shrugged their shoulders, even Rachel. She wasn't too upset that Finn wasn't here. She could spend part of Glee club thinking without her boyfriend constantly asking her what was wrong.

"Probably just late. We can just start without him, I'm sure he'll be fine with that," said Mr. Schue said as he motioned for the two girls to come up front. Rachel sighed before walking to the front of the room and taking a deep breath as she started singing. Singing was her escape to everything. It made every worry dissipate.

_Oh her eyes, her eyes_  
_Make the stars look like they're not shining_  
_Her hair, her hair_  
_Falls perfectly without her trying_

Rachel slowly poured her everything into the song, one of her favorites, and let that unbeatable sense of happiness envelope her.

_She's so beautiful_  
_And I tell her every day_

Quinn took a deep breath for her piece, and realized it was undeniable that her and Rachel's voices came together with the harmonies perfectly.

_Yeah I know, I know_  
_When I compliment her_  
_She won't believe me_  
_And its so, it's so_  
_Sad to think she don't see what I see_  
_But every time she asks me do I look okay_  
_I say_

The two joined together for the chorus, Quinn mixing in subtle harmonies.

_When I see your face_  
_There's not a thing that I would change_  
_Cause you're amazing_  
_Just the way you are_  
_And when you smile_  
_The whole world stops and stares for awhile_  
_Cause girl you're amazing_  
_Just the way you are_

Rachel felt on top of the world, her own world. So naturally she didn't notice when the rest of the glee club became deathly still, like marble statues. The angelic voice of the blonde next to her faded quickly, as did the music, until the raw sound of her acapella solo shook her to her core. Everyone was staring at the door, fear and worry evidently aware in each of their expressions, even Mr. Schue who looked like he was inching towards the office door.

"What's going on?" she asked worriedly. She saw several pairs of eyes bounce around the room nervously, several gulps. She became increasingly scared and confused as all her insecurities from the morning rushed back.

And then she felt it.

A piece of cold, solid metal pressed against the back of her head. She flashed around, and was now face to face with a gun. The man holding it was wearing all black, including a mask, so no one had any idea who this was. Suddenly, his arm was secured tightly around her neck and the gun was pointing to her temple.

"First," he began in a cold, scruffy voice. "You, get behind this piano. You are not going to press that emergency button hidden behind that wall Schuester." The man said threateningly, pointing the gun to Mr. Schue as he paled and carefully backed away from the wall and to the piano.

"Everyone give me their phones." Each person in the room dropped their cell phones instantaneously, as he pointed the gun at each one of them threateningly.

"Is this part of their act? Cause this guy is a really good actor-" Britney whispered to Santana, who hit her leg, bringing her back to silence.

"Here is what's going to happen. No one will be harmed if I can kill Rachel and no one says anything to anyone about it. Clear? You are all going to watch your little star die. Either she dies, or you all die." His tone was forceful and frightening. No, beyond frightening, Rachel thought. It was terrifying everyone to their core, tears and sobs starting to arise from everyone in the choir room. She looked out at all of her best friends, tears streaming down each of their faces, even Puck's, and they all looked terrified and angry. They wouldn't let her die, she knew that.

But she couldn't let them die.

And though she had no idea who this was, and why he wanted her dead, she knew what she had to do.

"Yes," she said through her silent sobs.

"Just get it over with."

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**Hey guys! This was a story again, collaborated by me and princessgleeky! Check out her profile and drop her a message! :D**

**Thank you for reading the story,**

**CertifiedGleek and Princessgleeky**


	3. Chapter 3

**And this is where the real epicness of the angst begins. **

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Finn couldn't believe what he saw.

He was late to nearly every class, always, so this was not unusual. But he took it as fate when he realized what he had missed. He watched painfully from the doorway as the girl he couldn't possibly live without had a gun buried into her luscious chocolatey hair, more than ready to fire. And the way the killer had his arm around her neck, nearly choking her, how she gasped for air as her cheeks became colorless was unbearable to watch. Tears were streaming down the cheeks of his fellow glee members. Tina, Mercedes and Kurt were all huddled into a group while the others were all holding their hands of their mouths, trying to hold back their sobs.

"Just get it over with," she sobbed, and Finn wished he could just die right then. But he was the only person who could save her. He did the first thing he could think of, trying to get something to knock the man with the gun off his feet. His eyes scanned the room quickly and saw a key dangling off the side of a fire extinguisher case and unlocked the case, carefully removing the fire extinguisher and creeping up towards the guy silently as the glee members just continued to sob and stare at the man with the gun. They knew if they drew attention to Finn he might kill Rachel, Finn and the rest of the club.

"I'm going to count to ten. Any of you try anything and she dies on the spot." Finn tried his hardest to silence his gaspy breaths. He was never a good actor, heck, he couldn't pull off a lie to his mom. But he knew at this rate, if he messed up, he and Rachel would both die. The man in black began counting down from 10. Each number made Finn's knees grow more weak, but he was ready.

_10._ Finn quietly tried to calm his racing heart. He wanted to just faint and vomit all at once.

_9. _Every single member in the choir room struggled to hold back more tears as they saw Rachel breaking under his grasp.

_8._ Rachel closed her eyes and tried to think of all the good things she had in her life. Her dads... her friends... Finn... Suddenly her eyes snapped open. Finn wasn't here. At least there was _some_ good in this. Finn would never live it down if he saw her die.

_7._ Everyone's heart just pounded a little harder as Rachel lets out a small, strangled sound.

_6. _Finn takes careful steps toward him and sees Rachel's small body shaking under his grasp.

_5_. He carefully places his finger over the trigger and everyone sees.

_4_. Finn stops for a moment and waits to see if he wakes up from this terrible nightmare, but Finn hears the cock of the gun and knows this isn't a nightmare. This is real, even though he wishes with all his heart that it wasn't.

_3_. The mystery man smiles under his mask. He took in everyone's terrified face, taking a mental picture in his head. Click.

_2..._

**CLANK. **

The masked man releases his grip on Rachel as the solid fire extinguisher makes contact with the back of his skull, the sound resonating through the room. Rachel had slipped to the ground as the gun made a loud bang, the bullet hitting the ceiling. Everyone's heart skipped a beat as the man lay down, seemingly unconscious as Finn went to Rachel's side.

"R-Rach? Baby are you okay?" Rachel groaned just as the man started moving, but obviously the fire extinguisher had taken a good enough blow to his head that his struggles to even lift his head was not successful. Finn ran down the floor, just near the piano, grabbing the gun that had fallen out of the killers hands. He let out a long sigh of relief when Rachel turned her head and looked him in the eye with desperate panic.

"We need to get out of here," he whispered, and she nodded. The killer was rising up, They had to act fast. Out of the corner of his eye, Finn saw the killer pull out another handgun from under his shirt, fumbling with the magazine clip as he struggled to stand up and chase after the two. The glee club all had one thing to tell them.

_Run. _

And that was exactly what Finn did. He scooped Rachel into his arms and ran. His legs immediately strode one in front of the other as he reached his way to the McKinley High School entrance, shoving the door with all his might as sunlight flooded both of their visions, but not before a loud gunshot rang across the hall, hitting the door as the couple made it out. Finn spotted his car nearby and immediately ran towards it, his legs burning and his ears pounding with all the blood that was rushing towards his brain.

"He got up, he's trying to run towards us!" Rachel screamed as she clutched Finn's neck and look behind him.

"I know!" He snapped back. Finn hadn't meant to yell at Rachel, but her life was in danger and nothing was going to stop him from getting her out of here safely.

They were now about two thirds of the war through the parking lot to Finn's car, and the mysterious man was catching up, just bursting out the door, his head swiveling around as he spotted the two running towards the parking lot. And the most surprising thing? He let them. Instead, he just cocked his gun again and made his way back into the school. He had 12 other problems to take care of.

"Where are we gonna go?" She sobbed into his shirt as Finn strode towards his car, thanking God that he had brought Rachel to school today and didn't have to separate in two cars. Finn didn't respond, mostly because the wind was rushing in his ear to the point where he swore he could feel his ear drum bleeding, and his life was practically flashing before his eyes. He came to a brief halt in front of his black truck, opening it and pushing Rachel into the chair next to the driver.

"What about my dads, your mom, the glee club. He still has another gun Finn! What if he kills one of them...?" she said as she grabbed his shirt to make sure he responded.

Her eyes were bloodshot and watery; Finn wanted more than anything to hold her close and comfort her that everything would be fine, but he wasn't even so sure himself.

"I'm sorry for screaming Rachel, but we just have to get out of Lima as fast as possible. We can call our parents later, and probably the police on the way out of here. We're going to get some essentials from our houses, then we're driving as far away from here as possible." Rachel nodded quickly. Before they knew it, Finn was driving maniacally down the street, Rachel checking all the rear view mirrors for another car, since the road was completely deserted. A painful silence invaded the car aside from Rachel's sobs and hiccups and the sound of the rubber of the steering wheel squeaking under Finn's deathly grip.

"If we die today," Rachel said, breaking the silence with a painful, heavy tone. "Just know that I love you."

"Me too. Now more than ever."

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**Wow. Three chapters fly by pretty fast don't you think? How did you like it? Still hooked?**

**Thanks for reading and clicking that pretty little blue button!**

**CertifiedGleek and princessgleeky**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! Sorry for the no update for a long time since... well forever, but you know. School, honors and friends. But here you go!**

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"Rachel, do you need this?" Finn was holding up a light pink notebook with a huge gold star with Rachel's name on it in her cursive handwriting. Rachel shook her head as she entered her closet and stuffed all the clothes she needed. Rachel had discarded all skirts since she had a feeling that they would be doing a lot of running. Rachel's gaze turned to her hand as her fingers grazed something cold. Her tears started again as she lifted up a recent picture of the Glee Club over the summer. It was of all twelve of them, plus Matt before he transferred to another school in Texas. They were all in their summer clothes such as tank tops and shorts. It was one of the funnest days of Rachel's life. It was that moment in time when Mercedes' statement at the beginning of the year was true.

They were family. _Nothing_ was _ever_ going to break them.

"Rach?" Finn found her in her closet, huddled up in the corner as her knuckles turned white holding the picture of New Directions. Finn immediately took her in his arms as she curled into his chest and clutched his shirt, her tears coming down in streams.

"Rachel. Rachel look at me." Finn used his hand to lightly make Rachel face him. Once she did, her tears started up again as Finn kissed her forehead lightly.

"They're going to be okay baby, but we have to get out of here now. Hey, hey. Everything's going to be okay baby. Everything's going to be okay." Finn rocked Rachel back and forth for a few minutes before helping her up.

"We have to go Rach. I have to grab a few things from my house then we're going." Rachel nodded as she wiped the remaining tears and zipped up her duffel bag, grabbing her wallet and phone before taking one last look into her room and closing the door.

She definitely wasn't seeing it for long time.

Now the nervous couple was in Finn's room as Finn gathered around to grab some stuff, throwing in some clothes and his lap top into the duffel bag that was on his bed. Finn took Rachel's hand and squeezed it as they made their way to the car. Rachel had left her fathers a note and Finn his mother. Finn threw his stuff into the trunk and tugged on her hand, only to feel her resist.

"I have to go to the bathroom okay?" Finn nodded as Rachel let go of his hand. Finn rather reluctantly watched as she disappeared back into the house. He really didn't want to let her out of his sight. She had close brush with death today and only then did it hit Finn how serious the situation had been. She had almost died. Finn would never know how to react if that actually happened. The moment he saw her with the gun pressed against her head, he felt like his whole world was collapsing around him. Finn brushed his hand against his face and felt a bit of moisture. Fuck. Was he crying? Men don't cry. Men do not cry... But when all that you love in life was about to be ripped away from you, then what? Finn looked to the distance and saw the familiar McKinley High School building when he suddenly heard something that made his blood run cold.

It was a gunshot and Quinn's scream.

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The masked man had entered the room again, this time aiming not for Rachel Berry, but the rest of New Directions. He couldn't let his plan get ruined.

_He couldn't let her live._

So he had to make sure no one was getting in his way. Starting with that pathetic little Glee club of hers. He had spent months trying to learn about her life (Star of New Directions, honor student, slushy target, mortal enemy of Quinn Fabray, liked some guy named Finn, broke up with him, dated some guy named Jesse, broke up with him then started dating Finn.), asking people around Lima about information about her, plotting this whole thing so it wouldn't go wrong. What he wasn't expecting was her boyfriend to come behind him and whack him with the fucking fire extinguisher.

"All of you, shut the fuck up!" The masked man yelled as everyone tried desperately to calm down their sobs. He was so screwed. He was pretty sure Schuester pressed that damn emergency button! The fact that he looked more confident and he came inside the room telling everyone that it was going to be okay tipped him off. Without warning, he grabbed the closest blonde cheerleader and held the gun to her head.

"Follow me. Any of you try to run little Ms. Head Cheerleader here gets it okay?" Puck clenched and unclenched his fists as he saw fear pass Quinn's eyes. No one laid their crummy little hands on his baby mama if he could help it. The masked man started walking out of the room, eyes on all of them as they followed him out of the school and into the forest near the school. After a few minutes they reached a clearing in the forest.

"Line up!" Everyone scrambled into a line as he cocked the gun, Quinn gulping. Suddenly, the sound of sirens were heard. The masked man muttered the word 'Shit!' under his breath before placing a finger over the trigger.

"Listen up, all of you are not to tell anyone what happened today okay? If you do, I will find out." Puck snickered for a moment but the masked man caught him and pointed the gun to him, the loud bang echoing throughout the forest, as well as Quinn's scream. The bullet missed him by inches, grazing his skin as it impacted the tree behind him.

"I will find out. Like the fact little Ms. Santana and Brittany over are going to make out after school today at 4:07 in the ladies restroom, our local fag-" Kurt let out a heartbreaking sob "-had plans with a boy named Darren today, or that Tina and Mike had plans of sleeping together tonight." Everyone now looked terrified. First he had almost shot Puck, now he was telling them that he was watching them?

"I know what's happening with you guys. I know. So you even _try_ telling anyone, I will take you out. One by one. By the way, nice Spongebob boxers cripple." Artie looked shocked. How the hell did he know that? His shirt was tucked into his pants, and it was a spur of the moment decision this morning. They couldn't do anything but watch as the masked man ran away into the darkness, a bleeding Puck on the ground and bear a secret that would change their lives.

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He ran and ran and ran until he couldn't run anymore. He finally reached the specific tree before using a branch to elevate himself and climb up all the way to the top to a secluded tree house that he had built when he first moved here. It had light and running water, (he was quite skillful with his hands) and on the wall were all the things he needed to know. He was a tech-savy geek since he was in the AV club so he had 13 different monitors. One for each room of each Glee club member. It took him long to plot each one, and the hardest was Berry's since she just had so much stuff in that lame-ass room of hers and he had enough of watching Rachel and her boyfriend playing tonsil hockey to last him a lifetime. He pushed himself away from the monitors and instead looked at all the stuff tacked to the wall. They were schedules, articles, receipts, the whole nine yards. If he was going to kill someone and not get caught, he better do it right. His temper suddenly raged as he punched the wall, causing some of the stuff on the walls to fall off when suddenly something caught his eye. He looked outside the window and saw the paramedics wrapping a bandage around the bullet's graze on the mohawk boy on the ambulance and growled as he grabbed the radio and the floor and tweaked it so he could hear their entire conversation.

"Who shot him? Did you see the guy?" The paramedic was asking as Quinn sobbed, holding Puck's hand as he moaned and groaned. _The teacher looks hesitant_, he thought as he continued to watch and listen in.

"No, we didn't see him." The policeman who approached them frowned.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." The policeman sighed before leaving to inspect the bullet that was lodged into the tree. The Glee club just stood there in silence until the sirens had faded in the distance.

"Why didn't you tell them Mr. Schue?" The geek in the wheelchair said. The teacher shook his head.

"He's watching guys. I know it." Damn right he was. He smiled in victory as he reached into his pocket and lit a cigarette. Berry on the run, fear of all the Glee club members?

This was going to be a piece of cake.

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**Hey guys! Here's a new chapter written by me! The next chapter will be written by princessgleeky. ;)**

**Thanks,**

**CertifiedGleek and princessgleeky**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! This long chapter was both by me and princessgleeky so I hope you enjoy and review!  
**

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"Can I have one?" asked an awkwardly cheery Finn as he glanced only momentarily at Rachel. He wasn't taking his eyes off the road for too long. They had just left Dayton after around 2 hours of driving and Rachel hadn't said one single word the whole time. The first hour she was asleep, but when she woke up, she did nothing but stare out the window and watch as the scenery changed from city to countryside. Finn had heard a couple of choked sobs as the hours past but she never turned to face him. Finn's stomach rumbled and he knew a growing boy his size needed to eat at least every hour and he was already eying that open bag of Ruffles on Rachel's lap that he had handed to her before the beginning of the trip, knowing that after such an experience she would be at least a little hungry. The small brunette stayed silent, pushing her untouched bag of chips off her lap. Her dark eyes still lay eerily on her toes.

"I'll take that as a yes." Rachel had placed the bag in the middle of the two of them and that was well within Finn's reach. Finn reached over and helped himself to several. He felt a weird sense of awareness in his chest as he realized Rachel hadn't lectured him about how rude it was to plop so many into his mouth at once as well as the volume he was chewing the chips on. Finn exhaled loudly, pulling over. Rachel looked up at him for the first time in miles, her eyes bloodshot and watery.

"Rach…" he sighed and affectionately pulled her head into the space between his shoulder and his neck, fitting so perfectly as if a jigsaw puzzle. It was something of a metaphor for how well they knew each other. Rachel immediately broke down in heavy tears for about the ten billionth time that hour.

"What is this really about?" He asked softly, feeling her tears dampen his collar and neck. His hand was wrapped around her waist, soothingly rubbing her lower back. Rachel pulled herself off his shoulder and wiped the tears off with her fingers.

"I-I was just nearly m-murdered. H-How on earth a-a-are you so o-optimistic?" she turned her eyes back to the ground, pushing a piece of tissue with the tip of her shoe.

"O-Our chances-s of getting through th-this alive are less than-n the chances of Brittany getting into Harvard." He chuckled a little at her joke and took her hands, but she still wouldn't look up.

"I-I just figure we might as well try to keep a positive attitude. If we do die, I guess."

"H-How are you always b-better than me at this?" she sobbed, practically throwing herself into Finn's chest. Finn chuckled, wrapping her arms tightly around her as she continued to cry and hiccup into his chest. Seriously, her hiccups were one of the sweetest and most adorable sounds ever. Probably because Rachel was so adorable. Everything about her was adorable. Well, not adorable but hot. And sexy. Her body was smoking, even her boobs and her lips... Don't even get him started on her lips...

Woah, we're going _way _off topic. Right, girlfriend crying in arms.

"I'm not, really. If you weren't around I'd be crying like a girl." Finn told her admittedly. Really, is he didn't have to stay strong for Rachel, that dam of tears would have broken down hours ago.

"But y-you're strong-g. That's w-why I'm in l-love with you." Finn looked at her in disbelief. Him? Strong? Wasn't he the one who cried like a pansy ass when he learned that Rachel and Jesse had sex? (Well, pretended to have sex.)

"Really? Last time I checked you were the strong one." They both suddenly became aware of how close their faces were. Rachel leaned in gently, feeling the ache buried in her chest melt instantly each time he drew his lips off hers, until she jumped back with a hiccup.

"Great way to ruin it, Rach," Finn laughed, seeing the corners of her mouth tug upward slightly before ducking her head away and just smiling shyly. She gave him a soft smile before redirecting her attention back to the window as Finn started up the car again and started driving.

"Where are we going again?" she asked.

"New Hampshire. Most random state I could think of." As Finn was about to turn to the exit leading to another town, he felt Rachel grip his arm tightly. He immediately stopped the care and looked at her, who looked like she was about to faint at what she was staring at.

"Finn… what's that?" she pointed to at a little circular metal piece embedded into an air conditioning vent.

"Oh my god… is that a microphone?" Rachel began to pant heavily, the car suddenly getting way smaller and way warmer than it was before.

"We're bugged. He heard everything we just said."

"We should've whispered. I knew it." Said Finn, shaking his head. He had an odd feeling that someone was watching them, or in this case, listening to them.

"Lets get rid of it." Finn grabbed the nearest pen and fidgeted with a hole in the vent until he was able to pop the little chip out. He immediately opened Rachel's door and threw it as far as he could into the nearby field, watching as the small chip landed some where among the tall grass.

"I guess we can't go to New Hampshire now…" Rachel said, fidgeting with her hands nervously. Finn wrapped his fingers around hers before his face lit up like a little boy's did on Christmas day.

"Michigan. Random state, and kinda the other direction. You ok with that?"

"Yeah. Whatever." Rachel looked down at the floor again. Finn pressed a kiss to her temple before starting the car again and making a left turn to get unto another freeway. Rachel sighed and leaned back in her seat before succumbing to sleep.

With every passing moment, Rachel lost a little bit of the hope that they were going to make it out of this alive.

* * *

Fuck, fuck, _fuck._ Holy shit! How could she have spotted that microphone so easily? It looked just like a bolt that connected the radio to the dashboard! No one, especially someone as dumb as Finn Hudson could have ever spotted that. He slapped a hand to his forehead before throwing that device that helped him listen to their conversation on his bed and walking over to the giant map of the United States he had bought just minutes before. He knew this was going to be a chase around the country and he had to be ready for it. Once again had he underestimated Rachel Berry's ability to spot something out of the ordinary. This was unfair! He _knew_ her. He just did. He knew her inside and out, every dream, every wish, every fear and every insecurity Rachel Berry had. They've been best friends for _years_. And they did date for like two or three months before this all happened.

And then that goddamn... He took a deep breath to calm himself and looked again at the map, crossing out New Hampshire out of the map with a big red marker. Rachel was too smart to go to the one place he had just eavesdropped on. But Rachel was smart enough to know that Jesse kid was playing her, or the fact that Noah Puckerman couldn't hang unto her to save his life. She was too beautiful, smart, funny...

BANG.

A loud bang echoed around the room as he practically destroyed the wall of his tree house. He shouldn't let his feelings for her ruin this! She left him, and now she had to die.

* * *

"Rachel?" called out Hiram Berry as he pushed open the decorative wooden door to the Berry household. His heart was racing fast and making pounding noises in his ear, his vision blackened around the edges and a sour, dry taste in his mouth. Ever since he had received the call from Mr. Schuester, it had been like this. The call was so brief, lacking enough information to even grasp what had happened. So it was only natural to assume some horrible event took place. The teacher's voice was all wheezy and cracking as he asked if Rachel and Finn were there. Hiram had replied that they weren't home yet and Mr. Schue desperately told them to check if they were before hanging up, leaving Rachel's fathers clutching their punding hearts in fear.

"Sweetie, are you home?" he called out once again, trying desperately to mask the cracks in his voice. Just outside the house, his husband, Leroy, stood rooted into the ground with hands clenched to his chest, muttering "Please be in the house please be in the house please be in the house," over and over. Hiram stepped inside the home, hearing his own pained voice ring through each room as he called his daughter's name to no response whatsoever. Then his vision fell on the little coffee table that sat right in the center of the living room. He sighed, remembering how Rachel had gotten it for them as an anniversary present last year; she had it sent all the way from Russia. But something looked different. He stepped closer slowly seeing that there was a piece of her favorite stationary lying on it. Hiram immediately picked it up and read the letter, his heart clenching in pain.

"Leroy," he began, tears welling up in his eyes, as he raised the paper to eye level. Leroy looked at piece of stationary in his husband's hand and walked over.

"She's not home, is she?" Leroy asked, his voice cracking.

"I think you should see this." In Rachel's neat, decorative cursive it was written:

Dear Daddies,  
I'm so sorry, I truly am, but Finn and I have had to leave Lima immediately for reasons I am not allowed to tell. Please do not call the police. I assure you that this is not an elopement, and that we will (most likely) return to Lima in good health soon.  
I'm so very sorry. I'll miss you both very much.  
Yours truly,

Rachel

P.S. Please do not try to contact Finn or I in any way.

Hiram was too tearful to even say anything to Leroy about all the peculiarities of the letter. It didn't seem like Rachel to just run off like that, and Finn certainly wouldn't kidnap her. And the fact that it specifically said not to contact her was frightening also.

"What does this mean? Where could she be?" asked Leroy.

"W-Well this note most definitely does not explain it. We need to tell Carole."

* * *

A few minutes later, both men appeared on the Hummel- Hudson doorstep, and something reached their ears. It was crying. On second thought, it was Carole crying and Burt Hummel was murmuring something to her. Hiram raised his finger and pressed on the doorbell and after a few shuffling feet and voices the door opened to a very upset-looking Burt Hummel.

"Hi." Burt obviously noticed something was wrong with the Berrys. Their eyes were bloodshot and there were tear tracks on their faces and one of them was clutching a piece of pink stationary covered in stars.

"You know don't you?" Hiram asked in a quiet voice. Burt nodded, knowing exactly what he was talking about. They also received a phone call from Schuester and Carole had almost had a panic attack, running around the house screaming "Finn!" and breaking down when she found the letter on the kitchen counter in his scrawly handwriting.

Dear Mom and Burt,

I'm really sorry about leaving both of you like this but I had to do something. Rachel was in danger and we just had to get up and leave Lima. Please don't call the police, it might make him mad and I don't want to lose anyone, especially not the Glee club or you and Burt. We promise to return someday, when this is all over.

Love,

Finn

Hiram immediately strolled into the living room and pulled Carole into a hug, rubbing her back soothingly. Carole sobbed into the man's chest as their husbands watched nearby, solemn.

"W-What's going to happen to our babies Hiram? They're only babies! They can't tackle the world alone." Carole said once her tears had subsided, but Hiram continued to hug her as his own tears poured down his face and could only reply with the one answer he could think off.

"I don't know Carole, I don't know."

* * *

** Bum bum bum! If someone actually figures out who this killer is I will be forever at the mercy of your feet. **

**Note: It's not Jesse or Jacob. It's actually an OC. **

**Thanks!**

**CertifiedGleek and princessgleeky**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey everyone! It's princessgleeky!**  
** So most of the credit for this chapter goes to the wonderful CertifiedGleek! I wrote a good chunk of the first piece (and came up with the Sue lines *wink*) I guess I just hate non-finchel chapters. But ya know, they must be done. Next chapter will most likely be entirely finchelicious, and action packed! **  
** So you have that to look forward to.**  
** On another note, I'm kind of drawing a blank on Wrong Person Wrong Time. I'm considering a hiatus until someone gives me a good idea! And please check it out if you haven't already. No one bothers to review anymore :(**  
** Ok I'll shut up now. Haha. Enjoy the chapter!**  
** Princessgleeky**

* * *

"Fabray! You know, knocking you down from this squad would be a hell of a lot easier than knocking you up. And that doesn't seem too hard." Quinn heard Sue Sylvester's hard, cold voice, breaking Quinn out of her previous thoughts. The past two days have been pure hell. Every Glee club member couldn't eat, sleep, or function knowing that their two co-captains were out there somewhere, running for their lives from this murderer.

"Sorry, coach, just having a... rough day I guess." Quinn said as she approached her head cheerleader. Sue Sylvester put her hands on her hips and shook her head in disapproval. Quinn had failed a cartwheel, then was unable to even stand with her body in an X shape. Santana kept passing out and Brittany had been sitting on the bleachers for three hours unable to move. She may not be the best person at times but she was a little worried about Quinn, Santana and Brittany. They all looked like they had gone through hell and back.

"Is Schuester poisoning you all with the fumes coming from hair?" she shouted at Quinn, who winced. Even though she was worried, did she need to show it?

"Nothing. We're... Fine..." her eyes began to tear up. No, they were most certainly not fine. They all felt like shit the past few days. Her mom had cornered her five times the past 24 hours just to ask what was wrong and Quinn just shrugged and went back up to her room, locked the door, and put her I-pod on full volume on the song "Bad Day" and slumped helplessly into bed, not even bothering to change out of her Cheerios uniform.

"Well, you are all doing terrible. Just go home." In truth, Sue Sylvester wanted them to sleep it off. Santana was now sitting on the floor, slumped next to the cooler and didn't even bother to flick off the normal jocks that came and whistled at the girl's behinds. Instead, she just walked over and slumped next to the bleachers. Quinn would've been sent into absolute dejection by her coach's words but she was actually reasonably relieved. Now she could go sob in peace. It was undeniable that the whole glee club had been traumatized by the events of yesterday, but the worst part was that she could not talk to anyone at all. Not even other people who were there, because someone could be listening. She, like everyone else, felt trapped. Adjusting her messed up, dead looking greasy pony, she nodded submissively.

Santana tried with no success to pull Brittany off the bleachers, but the blonde didn't even turn her head. Eventually, she just slid next to her friend and gave her a huge hug, stroking her hair comfortingly. Quinn stumbled off to her car, tripping every couple feet until her skinned knee was covered in blood. She saw this and shuddered, crumbling to the ground of the parking lot in muffled sobs. She heard footsteps and felt someone sweep her up into his masculine arms and set her on the hood of the car.

"Quinn? Are you okay?" Quinn lifted her head only to be met with Sam's deep blue ones. She shook her head as her body racked with sobs, causing Sam to pull her to him again. Sam was just as miserable as she was, even though he'd only been in the glee club for a month. He felt truly accepted in the group, especially since his football season was cut short by that massive linebacker around 2 weeks ago. He liked signing, he liked playing the guitar, and he really liked Quinn too.

"Let's get you home okay?" Puck watched as Sam gently picked Quinn up, kissing her cheek before sliding her into the car and getting into the driver's seat, driving away. He watched as Quinn's red smart car faded into the distance, holding the gauze wrapped around his arm. He knew it made him look totally bad-ass, but he felt just as miserable as the rest of them. He sighed, rubbing the piece of gauze. He had been rushed to the hospital where they treated his bullet graze, simply by stitching the skin together and wrapping it in a gauze. His mother had freaked the _fuck_ out and kept asking what happened. Puck saw how terrified everyone was and told his Mom that he got in some hunter's way. After receiving a bone crushing hug from his little sister and a long rant from his mother, ("You could have been killed Noah! Do you know how terrified I was hearing from the police that my son was shot?") he was released from the hospital. Puck kicked a small pebble as he walked to his own car, literally ramming into Artie.

"S-Sorry." Artie mumbled before moving to wheel away as fast as he can. He froze when Puck put a hand on his shoulder.

"Dude, you okay?" Artie just shook his head before wheeling himself to his Dad, who was waiting by the car. Andrew Abrams affectionately ruffled his son's hair as Artie smiled meekly at him. As soon as Artie's wheelchair was in place, Art slid into the driver's seat and began the journey home. The first thing Andrew noticed was the silence. Usually Artie used this time to talk about what happened at Glee, school, and Tina. The past few days Artie had been subdued. Now he was just plain silent.

"You okay Art?"Artie was a little startled by his father's voice, but quickly pulled his composure together to respond.

"Yeah, I'm okay."

"Are you sure? You're quiet today. Usually you spend the whole ride home talking about your Def Poetry Jams."

"Yeah, I'm sure." After that, no words were spoken between the two as Artie watched the Lima Memorial Mall pass, watching as two familiar figures entered the mall. Kurt and Mercedes walked halfheartedly into the nearest clothes store.

"Hey!" Lisa Sinders smiled, watching as her two best customers wandered around the store aimlessly. At first, Lisa was confused. Usually this unlikely pair would immediately jump at the latest arrivals, going through all the piles before picking a few pieces out and running to the dressing rooms, having a mini fashion show before picking their final goods and paying for them. Now, they were just sitting there in the pink, plush chairs, staring absentmindedly into space.

"Hi. Are you guys okay?" Lisa asked, approaching them as they shook their heads and got up.

"Y-Yeah. I'm sorry, we'll leave." Lisa's jaw dropped as they walked out of the store, shoulders hunched as she watched the two back up to a nearby bench. The two sat on the bench for the longest time, their minds reeling back to what happened a few days ago. It was haunting them day and night. Kurt often slipped out of his bed in the middle of the night and walked by Carole and his father's room, often to hear Carole crying and Burt soothing her. Rachel and Finn's disappearance had really taken it's toll on their parents. Kurt would drive by the Berry residence often to find Hiram and Leroy just sitting out on the porch, always on their cellphones, trying to call Rachel's cellphone. Burt and Carole in the meantime were often on the phone with the Berry's, seeing if they got through or if there was any update. Carole would spend most of her time at home crying, curling up in Finn's bed as if he was there, hugging his pillow tight to his chest. Her baby was gone and she didn't even know if they were okay.

"H-Hi." Kurt was snapped out of his little thought bubble by an Asian couple standing in front of them, holding Kurt's scarf.

"You dropped it Kurt. Mercedes left a few minutes ago, mumbling something about her dead laundry." Mike said, sitting beside Tina, who wrapped her arms around Kurt's waist, leaning her head against his shoulder.

"Do you think they're going to be okay?" Kurt asked. He didn't like to admit it, but after the Duets competition he had grown quite close to Rachel and Finn was sort-of like his brother. He was deathly worried for the both of them and seeing their parents worry for them was worrying him as well.

"I-I don't know Kurt. I wish we knew. I just wish this never happened."

* * *

"Will? Are you okay?' Will Schuester was snapped out of his small nap by Emma, who was looking at him with her large doe eyes, standing over him with a worried expression. She had found him slumped on his desk, a pen in his hand and drool on the test paper he was currently correcting.

"Emma!" Will said, jumping up in surprise and quickly wiping the drool from the side of his mouth and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. A worried crease appeared on Emma's forehead as she watched Will knock things over clumsily, falling out of his chair as he attempted to pick up the Spanish flag on the floor. His knee collided with the floor with a loud thump. It was already Friday and usually he would be happy, but now he was just plain distressed and upset. The pain that shot up in his knee broke the border that stopped him from crying, causing all the tears to slow out of him like a river. Emma immediately bent down to help him, but instead he buried his head in his hands and shed all the tears he couldn't the past two days. The two were then startled by the opening of Will's office door.

"Mr. Schue?" It was Quinn Fabray, and she looked just as torn as Will was, red rings under her eyes. Behind her was the rest of the Glee club, all looking the same. Will looked up as the rest of the Glee club filed into his small office, Quinn holding out her hand as she helped him up, immediately inclosing him in a hug as she began to sob into his chest. Will looked surprised, but reciprocated the hug and not long after the whole Glee club was huddled in a small group, tears pouring down each of their faces.

"Shhh. Shhh, guys, it's going to be okay. They're going to be okay." Will said repeatedly as the arms that were wrapped around each other tightened in comfort. They all wanted to believe it so badly. They all wanted to believe that everything was going to go back to normal, that Rachel and Finn were going to be okay.

But when everything around you was crumbling, what kind of hope could you hold onto?

* * *

**Hey guys! I hope you really liked the chapter and I have some news to reveal to you guys today:**

**Princessgleeky and I have been talking and it looks like you guys are in for a long ride.**

**That's right! This is going to be one long ass story. I hope you guys stick around!**

**(Oh, and this is most likely how it's going to be from now on. Princessgleeky will write the beginning author's note and I will write the end.)**

**Thanks!**

**CertifiedGleek**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey ppl!**  
** So we are over 100! Yay!**  
** And have you heard all the juicy NBK spoilers? They r my life. And no, that insane rumor... That I will not mention becuz I kno some ppl don't like spoilers... It's probably false. Message me if u don't know what I'm talking about. Anyway, you can really expect the next couple chapters to be a deliciously wild ride. CertifiedGleek and I have all these events in the works, we just need to figure out the order. **  
** Enjoyyy!**

**princessgleeky  
**

* * *

It was a bright morning, the kind of brightness that was not a quite rich, sunshiney bright, but rather tinted with greys and blues and thick, blanket-like rain clouds as far as the eye could see. It had rained cats and dogs all night, so it made sense that everything surrounding Finn's truck (namely the road and several trees) were either drenched or covered in little droplets. Rachel's eyes fluttered open at the faint call of a bird in the distance, always a morning person by nature, even when she had gotten less than 4 hours of sleep. Even so, she liked to at least start out the day optimistic. Her first thought once she had gained more consciousness was what to wear for school. She let her eyelids glide closed once again, picturing each flowery, knitted piece of attire she owned in vivid detail. Rachel began to think about what she might do today, expecting her mind to go through her classes, but encountering a rude awakening when she became aware of the fact that she was not at home, not going to school, and that she had no idea what the day would bring. For all she knew, that could be death. Burning and blurriness clogged the little vision she had when she opened her eyes once again to observe her surroundings. The feeling died down a bit when she became aware of Finn's soft but strong grip around her waist as she was placed just on top of him, fitting perfectly. She sighed, listening to his even breath and realizing he was still sound asleep.

The two had finally reached Michigan yesterday; the car was parked in an abandoned looking office parking lot with absolutely no other cars anywhere. Rachel had suggested on their first day of this chase that they just drive randomly around the country and pray the murderer didn't know where they were. Finn agreed, admittedly having no better idea himself. So they planned to journey into Northern Indiana and then maybe move southeast over the course of the day. The whole idea of a chase around the country really frightened Rachel. It was not enjoyable what-so-ever, she and Finn were not touring the country for fun, they were running for their lives. And she loved her life just the way it had been before this all.

When her chest filled with that scary, uneasy feeling, Rachel would cave her upper body slightly, sinking into the protection of the man she loved, much stronger and braver then she would ever be. She wanted to feel his heartbeat in her own heart, convince herself that he would save her from anything or anyone that tried to hurt her.

"I love you," she whispered sorrowfully into the sky, engulfed by her emotions.

"And good morning to you too," mumbled a sleepy Finn, snapping Rachel out of her over dramatic trance and making her giggle softly.

"Just forget that," she responded, words swallowed by light chuckles.

"No, I don't think I will. I love you too, you know."

"You have proven that by not being Jesse St. James." Rachel sat up on her knees, and smoothed her hair back into a ponytail about halfway up the back of her head.

"Hey Finn, look! It's a small motel. Mind if we check in? I really need a shower." Rachel suggested after fixing her hair and her shirt, opening the door and hopping out as Finn nodded, yawning and stretching before following to get out of the car. Finn ruffled his messed up hair before grabbing the two duffel bags in the bag, handing Rachel hers as she immediately dug through it for a while and emerging successful with her phone and wallet. She got the credit card out of her bag and handed it to Finn, who smiled and pecked her cheek before making his way to the front desk. Once Finn started talking to the man there, Rachel flipped open her phone and discovered that she had missed call. A lot of missed calls.

Approximately 356 missed calls.

Frowning, Rachel scrolled through her call log and saw that all the caller ID's registered were of her father's and of the other Glee club members, plus Mr. Schue and Ms. P. Along with the missed calls were 84 voicemails and Rachel put the phone to her ear after clicking the first one.

"Rachel Barbara Berry you pick up your phone this instant! When we discover where you are young lady you are going to be in so much trouble that you're going to be grounded for the rest of the century!"

"Rachel, it's Carole. Honey, please call us back. You're dads are worried, I'm worried. I need to know you and Finn are safe. Please sweetheart, just call."

"Rachel? It's Mr. Schue. Please call, just please call to let us know you're okay."

"Rach? It's Kurt. Please call us back. We need to know if you're alright."

"Please. Just please pick up the phone." Rachel was almost reduced to tears when she heard Quinn's message and after listening to a few more she learned that Puck was grazed by that bullet. She was unaware of the tears streaming down her face until Finn came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Baby? Are you okay?" Finn asked, the worry evident in his voice as Rachel turned around and launched herself into Finn's arms, her small petite body shaking with sobs.

"Shh. Rach whatever it is, it's going to be okay." Finn scooped her into his arms and carried her along with their things to their room. Finn was glad that Frank, the burly man in his 50's at the front desk had given them a room at the end of the hallway. It gave Finn two thing; Privacy, and an easier time carrying Rachel's things. He loved her but man did her bag weigh a ton. Finn put Rachel down on the bed and their stuff on the floor, sitting up and pulling her on his lap as she cried. A few minutes later her short, rapid breaths became deep and slow and after a fe moments of silence, she spoke up.

"I feel so selfish."

"Selfish? About what babe? There isn't a duet competition we need to drop now is there?" Finn chuckled nervously but Rachel wasn't taking any of it, instead climbing off his lap and facing the window. Shit. Bad time to make a joke Hudson.

"Rach, I was kidding. Now tell me. Why do you feel selfish?"

"I feel so selfish about leaving Finn! We practically left everyone we loved! Puck was shot, and even though it wasn't serious and can't help thinking that they'd all be safer if I just died." Finn's heart plummeted into a bottomless pit as she said she would rather be off dead.

"No. You listen here Rachel. If anyone is selfish it's me."

"You're not selfish Finn!" Rachel said, standing up dramatically and facing him. "You're kind and sweet and everyone loves you! I'm the annoying, bossy, conceite-"

"Don't finish that sentence Rachel. Listen to me." Finn stood up and wrapped his arms around her, pressing his forehead against hers.

"If anyone was selfish it was me. I couldn't let anyone hurt you. Do you know ho terrified I was when I saw that gun to your head? Our future flashed before my eyes. I couldn't let him rip away my happiness Rach. I just couldn't."

"Finn.. I-"

"So don't you ever say anyone would be safer if you died. I had to do something. Anything. Anything to keep you alive."

* * *

He fell asleep at his computer, going through some sites about bugging and spying before he fell asleep on the keyboard at around 4:36 in the morning. He was having a dream, a dream he always had for the past 10 years. It was about Rachel, but something about this particular dream was different from the others. Every dream was the same, Rachel sitting on the swings, laughing and smiling at him like there wasn't a problem in the world as he stood there watching her, a big smile plastered on his face. This dream started out the same way, him walking over to Rachel as she hummed to herself quietly on the swings. But suddenly, everything changed. He froze as Finn Hudson suddenly appeared behind her, kissing her passionately as she stood up and took his hand. Something else he noticed was the fire. It was surrounding him. He started to pant and sweat as he tried to walk over to Rachel, but immediately being blocked by a wall of fire, watching helplessly as Finn took her away, leaving the fire to crawl towards him, the red hot flames inching closer and closer...

He woke up with a jolt as the computer made a loud beeping sound. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and looked at the clock. 9:25 in the morning. He yawned and stretched, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as a window popped up on his computer screen. His eyes suddenly were wide open as he read the information on the screen.

Name: Rachel Barbara Berry  
Credit Card Number: 828452813  
Place of Purchase: Seahorse Motel, 793 Polaski Drive, Flint City, Michigan

After jotting the information down on a piece of paper, he grabbed his backpack and his car keys as he almost jumped down the tree house and running towards his car, backing it out of his hiding place and driving a little over the speed limit as he reached the highway, immediately raising the speed of his car. He didn't know what he was so excited for; learning about her location or the fact that she was careless enough to use a credit card. After around 3 and a half hours he reached Flint City, on the lookout for the Seahorse Motel when something caught his eye. It was Rachel and Finn, sitting in a cafe snuggled up together.

Bingo.

* * *

After around an hour of crying, making-up and professing their love for each other, Finn and Rachel found themselves in a small cafe a few blocks away from the motel, laughing while drinking a few glasses of coffee, talking about all the best things that happened that past year. They had decided not to linger too much on the present situation and decided to lay low in Michigan for a while.

"Remember when Mr. Schue seduced Ms. Sylvester?" Rachel almost spit her coffee out on her boyfriend. She was snuggled against him on the love-seat in the cafe, drinking her coffee with soy-milk in it.

"Y-Yeah! I heard that he stood her up on a date and caused that time the Cheerios went crazy." Finn and Rachel chuckled, their fingers intertwining as they just sat there and talked. Before they knew it, two hours had passed. He saw them as he entered the cafe, the gun effectively hidden under his waist belt.

He approached her from behind, his finger on the trigger, getting ready to pull it out and just shoot her. Suddenly, she shifted her head and he saw her face upclose for the first time. She was beautiful, she always was. His finger trembled on the finger before he finally took it off, taking a deep breath. He couldn't. He just couldn't kill her when he saw her face. She was still the same girl he grew up with, the same girl who laughed at him when he told her about his first date, the same girl who held him when he was crying his eyes out when his father died. She was still that girl. But at the same time she was that same girl who left him, left him in pain and fled back to Lima. The girl he hated for the past two years. Part of him hated her, but at the same time he loved her. Was that too weird? He just couldn't kill her, not directly anyways. He'd have to find other ways. It was easier to just grab her from behind and put the gun to her head, not to see her face and have all their memories together flood back.

"I love you Finn." His heart broke at that statement. Suddenly all the anger dissipated, only sadness and longing remain. He just wishes that he could be just them again. Him and Rachel, conquering the world together. But this was different. They were different, but in some ways she was still the same.

"I loved you." He said in a soft voice before fleeing, walking out the cafe doors and back to his car. He had to kill her, he had to. He just couldn't look at her face and do it. Rachel was surprised as she heard his voice. She hadn't heard his voice in over two years and immediately her head whipped around to find a man walk out of the cafe. Rachel's heart started racing. Was it him? He would know his voice everywhere. Hours spent on the phone, laughing and talking. His voice sent a rush of familiarity to Rachel's heart and couldn't stop herself from blurting out his name in a soft whisper.

"Grayson?"

* * *

**Hey guys! You'll find out who Grayson is in the next chapter! I know you guys are probably on the edge of your seats, waiting to know who this killer is and why he wants to kill Rachel. I know, I know, you're shitting yourselves from excitement right? **

**If you guys can leave us 20 reviews, that would be really awesome, but the fact that we had 100 reviews for 6 chapters is enough to make our story worth writing. :) **

**CertifiedGleek**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hola!**

** So thus entire chapter was written by CertifiedGleek. We were planning to do something else, but this part kinda took up more space than originally planned. So just expect the next chapter to be super intense! Oh, and just to clarify, this is most definitely a finchel story. Rachel doesn't have feelings for Grayson like he does for her. In closing... Conceited as this sounds, that quote someone mentioned in their review... It was mine :) **  
** Tata for now please review!**  
** Princessgleeky**

* * *

"Grayson?" Rachel watched as the man exited the cafe, cathcing a glimpse of his light brown hair. For a moment the man turned around and they locked eyes and Rachel found herself staring into his light green eyes. As soon as they locked, a man passed him and he disappeared.

"Rachel? Rachel who's Grayson?" Finn said, a slight frown on his face as she tore her eyes away from the empty spot on the sidewalk. She looked at Finn and took a deep breath, ready to tell him a part of her past she kept locked away.

"Finn, I have to tell you something..."

* * *

**September 2, 2000; 10:30 am**

A young Rachel Berry stepped out of the car, anxiously surveying her surroundings. According to her fathers, this was going to be home for the next year. Her father had started another company that made glass all the way here in Los Angeles which meant Rachel was going to her first year in the big girl school here. A new place. Where she didn't know anyone. Rachel clung tightly to her father's leg as they tried to get her to pry her fingers off them.

"Rachel, sweetheart it's going to be just fine."

"No! Daddy, what if they don't like me?" Hiram sighed and kneeled down to Rachel's level as Leroy handed her a bottle of water. It had been their trick for ages to get her to calm down, all starting when she was a baby. She was crying and she didn't want milk, didn't need to be changed and didn't want to be cuddled. All she needed was to feel the cool feeling of water to run down her throat and she would be fine. Hiram opened the bottle of water and handed to Rachel, who drank as her father talked to her.

"Sweetheart, everyone's going to love you. Now, take the class by storm! A famous Broadway star is never scared." Rachel smiled as her fathers each kissed the top of her head.

"Okay Daddy. I'm ready." Rachel smiled before walking into the classroom, the teacher approaching her with a warming smile.

"Hi. I'm Mrs. Smith and who are you?"

"I'm Rachel Barbara Berry." Rachel's previous doubts have now returned as she watched the other students already start playing with each other as if in a span of five minutes they already had made their best friends. Mrs. Smith smiled at the little girl, seeing her confidence shrink as she surveyed the classroom. She took the little girls hand and pointed to the small boy in the corner, who was playing with the toy piano, isolated from the other kids.

"Would you like to play with him? He likes music." Rachel beamed. She loved music! Immediately she bound to the small boy with light brown hair.

"Hi! I'm Rachel Barbara Berry, I like music and I'm going to be on Broadway one day!" Rachel said as the small boy looked up from the toy piano. Grayson was a lonely little boy who arrived late to class, watching as everyone paired up. His father had dropped him off and after a quick reassurance that big boy school wasn't scary, he planted a kiss on the top of his head and pushed him off to class. Mrs. Smith had greeted him and paired up with some boy named Frank, but Frank didn't like music. He liked football and tackled the poor boy, getting a time-out in return. He smiled up at this pretty girl.

"Hi. I'm Grayson. Can you sing?" Rachel beamed and nodded. She was for sure the best signer there. (Her daddies told her so.) Grayson started to play a familiar tune, but just then Frank was done from his time out and pulled Grayson's hair.

"I hate you! You teller!" The burly boy said while pulling on Grayson's light brown locks. Rachel watched in horror before stepping in.

"Hey! You can't do that to him!"

"Really? What can you do about it? You're a girl!" Just then Frank pushed Rachel, causing her to fall. She was close to tears and Grayson stood up, pushing him back with all his might.

"Hey! You can't do that to a girl! She's a girl!" Just then Mrs. Smith stepped it.

"Frank! Grayson! Stop it! Frank, come with me, I'm calling your Mommy." Frank stuck his tongue out at Grayson as Mrs. Smith took his hand and led him away, leaving Grayson and Rachel alone. Grayson looked down to see that Rachel was still on the floor and extended his hand.

"He's a big meanie. He can't push girls around!" Grayson said dramatically as he helped Rachel up.

"Are you okay?" Rachel smiled and that was the beginning of a new friendship. Rachel and Grayson were attached to the hip by the time the day was through. At the end of school, Rachel took Grayson's hand and led him to her fathers.

"Dad, Daddy, this is my new friend! His name is Grayson." Grayson looked from Rachel to her dads, a confused look on his face.

"You have two Dads?" Rachel nodded and bit her lip hesitantly. Usually this is where other people found her weird since everybody had one Mommy and one Daddy. Instead, Grayson smiled.

'That's cool. I wish I had two Dads." Hiram and Leroy were surprised at this boys opened mindedness and smiled kindly at him. Just then, a tall man that looked just like Grayson tapped him from behind and once Grayson turned around, he launched himself into his father's arms.

"Dad!" Greg laughed heartily as he ruffled his son's hair, noticing a shy little girl who was standing next to two men.

"Hey sport. How was school today?"

"It was great Dad! I even met a new friend!" Grayson walked over the small girl and took her hand, whispering something to her before they walked over to Grayson's father. Greg looked down and smiled at the little girl, who hid behind Grayson.

"Dad, this is Rachel Berry. She's going to be on Broadway!" Grayson said with a proud beam as Greg knelt to Rachel's level, taking her small hand and shaking it. After the introductions have been made, the parents watched as Grayson and Rachel ran around and played and decided to get a little friendlier to each other. They knew they'd be seeing a lot of each other, especially since their children were best friends.

**June 17, 2008; 2:39 pm**

Grayson tapped his foot nervously as he waited for a petite brunette's flight to arrive. It's been almost 8 years since Rachel Berry and Grayson West have met and like their parents expected, they were best friends. They have been best friends ever since that first day in 1st grade and every year since Rachel moved back to Ohio, she would come back to L.A. just to spend her summer with Grayson. Grayson smiled as he saw his best friend come through the gates in a pair of shorts and a tank top, her head swiveling widely as she looked for him. Once she spotted him they both ran to each other.

"Rach! I can't believe it! You're here!" Grayson said, swinging her around in his arms. She laughed and hugged him back tightly. Once they let go of each other, Grayson took a step back and admired Rachel's new curves.

"Well someone has certainly _matured_ this past year." Rachel blushed and nudged him, clearly embarassed that her cup size had grown since she last saw him.

"You've certainly grown Gray-gray. Look at you! How many inches did you grow this year anyway?"

"Almost 4 inches."

"You and you're stupid male hormones." Rachel scoffed as Grayson wrapped an arm around her waist, taking her bags as Rachel's fathers' trailed behind them, smiling. Once they were outside, Grayson turned to face Rachel with seriousness on his face.

"Rachel, how long have we been best friends?" Rachel thought for a moment before answering.

"About eight years already. Why?"

"Well, I wanted to make this summer memorable Rachel. We did share our first kiss together right?" Rachel blushed and nodded, remembering that day. Just the both of them sitting on the beach after a long day when they were both 13. They had stared each other with a certain intensity and before they knew it, their lips were locked. Rachel always thought that you would feel fireworks, butterflies, anything like in those sappy romance movies. Instead, it just felt nice. Like they were supposed to do this. They were best friends after all, and didn't friendships always bloom into romances?

"I was wondering if... you would be my girlfriend." Grayson's eyes shifted down as Rachel's fingers tilted his chin up. She was smiling and nodded, causing Grayson to smile and hug her tightly. They were best friends, they eventually were supposed to get together... Right?

**October 5, 2008; 11:29 am**

Rachel was in her Spanish class, rapidly taking down notes as her Spanish 1 teacher, Mr. Schue, discussed with the class the uses of the verb 'tener' when all of a sudden Ms. Pillsbury, the guidance counselor, popped her head in class with a grim expression. At the exact same moment, Rachel's phone started vibrating in her pocket. She looked around before flipping it open, seeing that there was a text from Grayson. Rachel and Grayson have been together for almost four months now and Rachel was starting to have doubts about their relationship. No matter how hard she tried, she still loved him only like a brother. Not like a boyfriend. They've always been acting as if they were together, but now that they were together, it was hard to see them as a couple. But the past few months have been great, but she just wasn't feeling it. A small smile appeared on her face before she opened the message. Her eyes glazed over the message, worry immediately filling her heart as she read the message;

Rachel, please call me. I need you.

"Rachel?" Rachel's head snapped up as Mr. Schuester looked at her with a grim expression.

"Ms. Pillsbury would like to take you somewhere." Rachel nodded, gathering her things, ignoring the stares and whispers of her fellow classmates before walking out of the room. Together, they walked in silence as they approached the Principal's office, only to find her two fathers there.

"Dad? Daddy? What's going on?" They looked like they've been crying.

"Did Grayson tell you?"

"No, he only asked me to call him."

"YOu need to call him Rachel. He really needs you right now." With a pounding heart, Rachel took out her phone and dialled the number she knew by heart, waiting with bated breath as the phone rang. Finally, she heard a click.

"Gray-gray? Baby?" All she heard was sniffling.

"Rach?" Grayson said in a cracked voice. He was having the worst day of his life. Grayson spent almost an hour yelling and screaming before getting the guts to text Rachel. He was pulled out of class and the destroyed expression on his mother's face as she immediately pulled her into a hug, mumbling a few words that managed to shoot his whole world into pieces.

"Y-Your father passed away Grayson." This memory immediately sent him back into full-fledged tears, almost forgetting Rachel was on the line.

"Grayson? Baby are you okay?" Rachel asked in a soft, soothing voice.

"H-He's gone Rach." Grayson managed to say in between sobs.

"Who's gone? Grayson? Please talk to me."

"My dad. He's dead."

* * *

"I flew out to Los Angeles an hour later and stayed with Grayson for two weeks, helping him get his life back together. He was a mess Finn. He lost his idol, his role model, the person he loved most in the world." Rachel said, after relaying their whole history to Finn, who was just sitting there with his arms around her, listening to her unload.

"What happened? I mean, how did you guys break up?" Rachel hesitated for a moment before answering in a quiet voice;

"We just grew apart." Finn nodded, just sitting there, holding Rachel in silence.

"So, do you guys still talk?" Rachel shook her head.

"I-I don't know what happened to him after." Rachel said, lying throuh her teeth. She knew damn well what happened. She just wishes she had the courage to go back and face him after what happened. She just couldn't. Rachel opened her wallet and shuffled through the pictures, pulling out the last picture they ever took together, handing it to Finn. She hadn't seen that picture ever since Greg's death.

"That's Grayson. He was the sex god of his school and he knew very well on how much he affected the girls." Rachel chuckled, a feeling of longing filling her. She loved Finn the way you loved the love of your life, but she loved Grayson like a brother. He was family to her and the news of Greg's death hit her just as hard. He was like a third father to Rachel. Finn stared with wide eyes at the picture. Holy_ fuck _this guys was hot. Abs, light brown hair, green eyes. His arm was wrapped around Rachel's bikini-clad body and Finn felt his mind fill with jealousy. This is who Rachel went out with?

Rachel's eyes flickered back to the empty spot on the sidewalk. She felt Finn's hold tighten on her and his lips pressed against her temple. Rachel settled back into his arms, a small smile on her face. Even through whatever happened with Grayson in the past, she wouldn't change it for the world if it meant she couldn't be here in Finn's arms.

* * *

** As you can see guys, Rachel loves Grayson as a brother, but beware. There is still a very dark part of their past that is still to be revealed!**

**CertifiedGleek**


	9. Chapter 9

**Dear Fabulous Readers,**  
** So, how did you all like The Substitute? I lived it a lot more than I thought I would, but the highlight of the night was undoubtedly the Furt promo! It will probably be an amazing episode, but if Rachel doesnt have an actual plotline... well, just don't expect to see Ryan Murphy ever again. Haha.**  
** And please check out my new fic! It's ridiculously finchel, and though I'm not going to give away too much, it will be very, very different from any other Finchel fics. **  
** Also HARRY POTTER! I love Harry Potter as much if not more than I love glee (sorry). I hope the do the epilogue with the actual actors... it will be so much cuter. And I'm diehard Harry/Ginny Ron/Hermione... but lord no, nothing tops Finchel. Don't worry.**  
** Love you all!**

** princessgleeky**

* * *

"Do you want anything else babe?" Finn asked as they were getting ready to leave the coffee shop. They had talked for an additional half hour, all about Rachel's past with Grayson. What Finn didn't know was that Rachel had kept a very large part out of her story. The way they broke up. It almost completely destroyed her, but luckily she had Finn to make her day a little better each day, even though he didn't know what the hell was going on.

**October 24, 2008; 6:29 am**

Rachel had taken the earliest to L.A. the next day, dropping everything as her fathers secured her a flight. She tapped her foot nervously as she waited for everyone to get off. Being one of the last to book, she got one of the crappiest seats on the flight. She didn't care. She just wanted to see Grayson. Finally, everyone had gotten off-board as Rachel grabbed her duffel bag, hurrying off the plane. She grabbed her suitcase from the big roller before dashing out to the area where Grayson always picked her up. She looked around and saw him leaning against the wall, head tilted back. She quietly approached him, dropping her bags and wrapping her arms around his waist. When she didn't feel his arms around her, she looked up.

"Grayson?" He opened his eyes and looked down at Rachel, who was smiling softly.

"Hi Rach." He said in a croaky voice as he wrapped his arms around her in return, squeezing her softly before planting a small kiss on the top of her head.

"Are you okay? And why do you smell like cigarettes?" Rachel asked as she got a closer smell of him, burying her nose into his jacket, smelling the strong smell of smoke clinging to it.

"It's okay babe, I had to walk through the smokers lounge. I got here a little later than anticipated." Just to prove his point, Grayson kissed Rachel. As she responded, she felt his tongue open her mouth and enter hers, which tasted pretty minty. They pulled apart, only to have a group of teenage boys staring at them. Rachel blushed and hid herself in Grayson's jacket.

"Get your own." Grayson yelled to the boys as they ran away. Rachel smiled up at Grayson as he planted a kiss on her forehead.

"Let's go babe." Grayson said, taking her hand after tucking in the lighter in his pocket.

**November 7, 2008; 3:35 pm**

"Grayson Luke West! Come down here this instant!" Rachel said, fuming as she smelt the smoke that came from the house. When there was no response from the house, Rachel walked to the back porch and saw Grayson smoking a joint, dropping it when he saw Rachel.

"R-Rachel, I can explain..."

"Explain what? That your mom called me today to see if you're here? You're skipping school Grayson! It's not acceptable! And you're smoking marijuana on top of it! You can go to _jail_, Grayson! Do you think your dad would want this for you..."

"My Dad? What do you know about my Dad Rachel? Did you spend almost two hours regretting that you didn't say 'I love you' to him before he went to work? Spending every Saturday morning just fishing or watching the game then waking up one day to find out that it's never happening again?" Grayson shouted, frustrated with himself. She was right. This wasn't what his Dad would want for him but it just hurt to damn much to walk into that same class and not have all the regret, fear and depression strike him again. Rachel's eyes softened.

"I know it's hard Grayson but you have to move on..."

"Move on? What do you know about moving on? You've been hated since the first day of middle school! You have nothing to move on from." As soon as those words fell from his lips, Grayson immediately regretted it. He looked up and saw Rachel, tears glistening from her eyes, looking as if she found a three-legged puppy and watched him run it over.

"R-Rachel, I'm sorry..." Grayson said, taking a step closer to her as she backed away.

"No. Don't touch me."

"Rachel, please..."

"You were the last one I expected to hear that from Grayson. My best friend...!" Grayson sighed and sat down, burying his head in his hands. Rachel softened up as she saw Grayson's shoulders move up and down in silent sobs. She knew he was putting up this facade for the sake of looking manly for his mother. In truth, he was just a little boy who lost his father, his best quietly moved and sat on the arm of the chair, putting a hand on the back of his head.

"I'm such a crappy best friend. I can't even be a decent boyfriend." Rachel pulled his head up and rested her forehead on his.

"You are not a crappy best friend Grayson. You are the greatest best friend a girl could have. But..." Rachel bit her lip as Grayson opened his eyes. "I think we need to break up." Grayson stood up in fury.

"W-What? Why? It's because I've been depressed right? I'm too stupid, I'm too blonde, I'm too ugly..."

"No. _No._ Grayson I'm just not feeling it. I love you and all, just not like my boyfriend. I love you like my brother. My best friend."

"You found someone else didn't you? I knew it." Grayson said as Rachel's eyes widened at the sight behind him. It was a fire, and it was blazing behind them. Grayson took quick action and called 911, but dropping his phone as he saw the column that Rachel was standing over crack a little. Rachel turned around as the column gave way, causing Grayson to push her out of the way, trapping himself under the fallen rubble.

"Grayson!" Rachel tried her best to get to him but the fire was spreading.

"Rachel!" Rachel turned to her father's voice and in a blur, she was out of the fire, but she was coughing, having inhaled too much smoke, trying to get Grayson out. She felt herself in her father's arms before mumbling Grayson's name and succumbing to the darkness the same moment Grayson had succumbed into it too.

November 14, 2008; 4:23 pm

Grayson felt himself stir, fluttering his eyelids open to find a blurry figure with brown hair beside him, holding his hand.

"Rachel?" he mumbled and opened his eyes fully, only to find his mother in near tears next to his bed.

"Grayson! Oh my, I was so worried. You've been out for a week! Everyone's been panicking, your-"

"I've been out a week? Mom? Where's Rachel? Is she okay?" At the sound of Rachel's name, Linda West's voice immediately quieted down. She looked up and was met by her son's pleading eyes, which represented is father's.

"S-She left Grayson. After she was released from the hospital, she and her Dads packed up and went back to Lima."

* * *

How could he have been so stupid? How could he have just let her live when he had been inches close to killing her, gun in hand, and the circumstances having been so in his favor? Grayson kicked the wall of his treehouse, filled to the brim with swelling emotions- namely anger and sadness. Pain most of all, burning pain that made his chest feel completely empty , his knees shake, and his breathing irregular. It was so crippling... after all, it was the same thing that had changed him from a smart, fun, musically gifted child into a man broken and lost. About three months ago- when had found his mom cheating on his stepdad, who he had really bonded with- he had cracked, and he knew it. All the shit that had happened to him in the last three years- it had hurt him, changed him, probably scarred him for life- that was the point when he just lost it, pushing away anything sad and replacing it with anger. Grayson let his limp body fall onto the little pile of pillows he had been using as a bed ever since he ran away and had been using the treehouse he built, remembering the exact way his father did it; his mom was worrying, he knew, but he had to get this done. It wasn't ideal, but he was still able to use all of his spyware by hacking into the neighbors wifi.

Grayson remembered when he had crumbled. He hadn't wanted to crumble, so he had emailed her, the one little beam of sunshine he still was able to hold on to. He had poured his heart out into his message; he told her of all his heartbreak, and how sorry he was for what he had done before they broke up. And as politely and honestly as he could, he asked to get back with her, swearing to be the best boyfriend he possibly could be. But she replied to him with sickeningly heartbreaking words that would probably haunt him forever: "I'm sorry Grayson, but I can't forgive you for what you did. And I am in love with someone else, we are in a serious relationship right now." How could she have been so rude? That was the day Grayson swore he would murder Rachel Berry if it was the last thing he did.

That was why he couldn't shoot her, he realized. He just couldn't do it when he stared at her angelic face, more perfect than a statue of a Greek goddess. If he was going to end her, he would have to try a different technique. And hell, killing that freakishly tall Finn kid would be greatly satisfying as well. Grayson grabbed his laptop and googled for some good methods. His fingers flew typing and clicking from wikipedia articles of serial killers to police websites, searching for the best, most fool proof way to kill someone in his situation. After about five minutes, he had a rough plan scribbled out on a notepad, and as he picked it up he shut his laptop and stared at his scribbled notes with wide eyes. Yes, this was it.

* * *

**Hey guys! Sorry for the no update, but it's been a long week. Please make sure to check out my new story; "She's the Best." (- Illegal advertising)**

**THANK YOU FOR STILL READING!**

**CertifiedGleek**


	10. Chapter 10

"Why don't you change the channel? Check if the game is on. I'll get another one of these. Carole smiled softly to herself, hoping acting like she was happy might actually help her feel better about this whole situation. Burt went up to get another beer from the fridge as they both watched "Gilmore Girls" reruns on TV, and enjoying the distraction it brought from their own lives. It had been almost a week since Rachel and Finn disappeared and they were still waiting for a phone call, an email, anything. They had respected their wishes when they said not to call the police, but it was a hard decision to come to, considering any situation where they were instructed not to call the police was probably bad. They all agreed that if they waited another week without any news from the two of them then they would get the police involved. Just then the doorbell rang.

"Hiram! Hi!" Carole said, smiling as he pulled the man into a hug. The first thing Carole noticed was that Hiram's shoulders were slumped more than usual today. The other things was the lack of the wedding band on his left hand.

"Hiram? Are you okay?" Carole asked tentatively as Hiram's gaze was fixed on his feet.

"L-Leroy and I had a major blowout. I called him something, threw my wedding ring at him and drove right over here. It was my most dramatic performance yet." Hiram said with a small chuckle as Carole led him in. They sat together on the couch for a few moments before Burt came in with a bottle of beer and a sandwich. He offered the bottle to Hiram, but he shook his head

"Oh, hey Hiram. Any news from Rachel?" Burt asked as Hiram's expression looked even more sullen than before.

"Hiram?" Carole asked in a small voice as he buried his head into his hands. "Are you okay?"

"W-We fought about Rachel."

"Really? Why? Come on Hiram. Talk to me."

"We were fighting about if we should call the police. I don't know what to do Carole! I trust my baby girl so much. If she doesn't want us to call the police then I have to trust her. But Leroy thinks that we should call the police. It's been a week Carole. I can't sleep, eat and I'm constantly thinking about the two of them. If they're okay, if they're safe."

"I know how it is Hiram. I haven't had a goodnight's sleep in a long time. But we have to trust them. We just have to." Hiram sighed as slumped against the couch.

"I know we have to Carole, but aren't you losing hope in this? We haven't heard from them in seven days Carole. _Seven_ days. I don't know how much longer we can wait for a sign, anything to know they're okay."

"Just wait okay Hiram? They're okay. I know they are."

* * *

Finn was able to pack it away and convince himself he was delusional, but he couldn't help that he felt slightly nervous that the guy who's tying to kill his girlfriend is in love with her. It wasn't really jealousy, because he was pretty sure Rachel had told him that she was in love with him, and he did kind of save her life. Honestly, he was scared for her safety. What if he tried to hurt her?

"Rach-" Finn whispered as he ran his hands through her hair. They were taking the day off to try to catch up on some sleep, but it hadn't been working.

"What Finn?" Rachel responded softly.

"Do you smell that?" Finn's taste buds and sense of smell became suddenly very aware of the dry, burning smell very present in the air.

"Yes, I do. But it's probably just someone smoking. I'm sure there is nothing to worry about."

Finn wasn't buying it. There was no one around that could be smoking; and anyway, the scent wasn't woody, pleasant like a campfire. It was thick and choking.

"Rach, there's smoke!" he sat up and pointed at the little black stream of smoke coming from below them. "I think it's coming from the car!"

Rachel's slight grin melted away quickly as she too moved her body to lean against one of the front seats of the truck and observe the mysterious burning.

"You're right..." she whispered as the cloud spread to their very throats and sent them into light coughs.

"I think the car is on fire!" shouted Finn.

"Cars don't burn, they... explode..." coughed Rachel, now nearly choked and unable to see. Just then, a smallish boom roared from the front of Finns truck, and a new bunch of sparks flew out from it, setting several small surrounding plants on fire.

"_Fuck_, Rach... what do we do?"

"Get... out!" ordered Rachel. Finn looked at her with a frown pushing its way down his cheeks.

"What about our stuf..."

"Just grab everything you can, ok?" shrieked Rachel.

Smoke was rising, blocking Finn's vision of her face and clouding his throat. He quickly grabbed Rachel's laptop, their cellphones and both their wallets, throwing them onto the side of the road with no attempt to aim. His heart was pounding so hard he could barely hear his girlfriend's whimpery screams; his windpipe was throbbing and feeling uncomfortably dry. Though his legs felt numb, like they weighed 3000 pounds, Finn lept as far as he could away from his truck. His eyes began to tear up, which made it hard to see anything except the faint outline of the growing orange glow, but he could swear Rachel hadnt jumped out after him. And suddenly, a loud boom shook his ear drums. But not as much as it shook his heart.

"Rachel!"

* * *

**We know, we know, cliffhanger! How many more of those are you going to put? **

**But thanks for reading anyway, besides our annoying habit of leaving you guys on the edge.**

**CertifiedGleek  
**


	11. Chapter 11

**I would like to use this A/N to cater to the Fuinn rumors, because as scary as they are, I have some comfort.**

** A. 99% sure that extra is fake. Sure, she gave us the word Suinn was TOML, but so many people were already saying that.**  
** B. Even if it is true, it will most likely just be a one-episode plotline so Finn can realize he could never feel anything for anyone the way he feels for Rachel.**  
** C. Suinn is tight as ever. Knowing the writers, they wouldn't suddenly break them up two episodes after singing TOML. But who knows, they have been pretty flakey lately...**  
** D. No matter how it goes down, Finchel is endgame. End. Of Story.**

** Anyway, more illegal advertising, check out my page! :) I've got a new oneshot based on Valentine's day rumors!**

** Bye bye for now!**

** princessgleeky**

** P.S. Gosh we are so sorry about the wait. I guess we got so caught up in our own stories that we just kind of stopped putting work into it.**  
** Epic things are coming your way!**  
** (And remember my favorite quote on earth (from a confirmed extra)**  
** The pastry shall rise on the back leg. (Finchel is the pastry, the back leg is the other half of season 2)**

* * *

"Rachel!"

Every cell in his body was in agonizing pain, feeling so heavy yet so weightless at the same time.

"Rachel!" he screamed again, feeling his breath becoming uneven and suppressed. _Fuck_ no... he was not crying, no way... But the more time that passed with silence and more exploding sparks flying out of his destroyed truck, the more his heart sunk.

She was dead. Exploded. Gone.

And it was completely and utterly his fault.

"Rach, baby? If you're alive, please answer me!"

Silence.

This wasn't happening. Impossible.

Finn sat behind the wide trunk of a roadside tree, letting his back slide down into a squatting position. He felt splinters dig into his skin through his shirt, but he couldn't care less. He was praying with all of his heart that his one and only love was alive. He let tears slide down his cheeks liberally; he stopped caring. It's not like Puck or Sam was anywhere aound to laugh at him.

He only opened his eyes when he saw something lying limply, splayed out like an abandonded doll on the side of the road.

"_Fuck_..." he said to himself. Finn didn't want to have to see her body, empty and lifeless, cold and unmoving. He wanted to remember her for the beautiful person she was when she was alive. Just the thought of living without her sent his head spinning, trying to get by without his other half. The thought of just not being able to see her beautiful face with that familiar spark in her eyes alone was enough

But as his mind raced to her funeral, he realized everyone who cared about Rachel would want her to be buried traditionally and all. He had to bring her body back, he swore, if it was the last thing he did.

It took every bone in his body, every strength he had to gather the courage to even crawl to limply to where she lay. As he inched closer, he began to wish he hadn't decided to see what his love looked like dead. It was scarring. Her gorgeous legs- the same ones he used to tenderly stroke and revel in- were covered in blood, both of them. Her arms- the same ones that would wrap tightly around his neck when they kissed- were not as bad as her legs, but still had plenty of cuts. And her angelic face- the same one he could stare at for hours and just take in her beauty- was lifeless and cold as he pressed the back of his hand to her forhead.

"Rachel..." he half sobbed, half sighed. "B-Baby, I'm s-so sorry." He took her hand softly and pressed it to his cheek. It was unreal.

But the moment he heard small but steady beating against his thumb, feeling it in her wrist, his heart nearly stopped cold.

He gasped and fell flat onto her chest as if struck by lightning; it was, there the was rhythm of Rachel's heart beating, the reassuring feeling of her lungs rising up and down. Alive.

She was _alive._

Finn lay on the ground, listening to the sacred rhythm of Rachel's heart, tears pouring down his face as he thanked whoever was up there over and over again. The slight movement under him caused Finn's head to shoot up and stare at Rachel's face.

"Finn?" Rachel said in a voice above a whisper. Finn watched as her beautiful eyes fluttered up to look up at him, taking in every flutter of her eyelids, tears of happiness and relief flooding down each of his features.

"R-Rachel?" Rachel opened her eyes and at that moment Finn could have just stayed there and stare at Rachel's liquid chocolate eyes.

"Finn. We-" Rachel winced as she moved the slightest inch. Finn immediately helped her sit up. "W-we need to check into a motel. The police will find this. We can't risk it anymore." Rachel's rib cage felt like it was on fire and every small move had caused another burning type of pain shoot up.

"Rachel, baby are you okay?"

"Finn, motel. Now." Finn nodded.

"I'm going to carry you alright? I'll just get the things I saved." Rachel nodded as Finn dashed to the other side of the road, grabbing their wallets, cellphones and the duffel bag he had thrown to the side of the road before he jumped out. He ran back quickly and lifted Rachel off the ground gently, covering her with his letterman jacket to prevent her from freezing or from any bystanders that might be suspicious of why she was covered in blood and soot. Finn walked a good five minutes with Rachel in his arms until he found the sing "Blue Whale Motel" shining above them in blue neon lighting. Finn pushed the door open, walking towards the front desk where an old woman was sitting.

"Um... Can I have a room please?" The woman didn't look up from her nails and just asked in a monotone voice;

"Cash or credit?"

"Credit." Finn threw his wallet on the desk and finally the woman looked up and peered at him from behind her freaky rhinestone glasses.

"What am I supposed to do with this?"

"C-Can you get my credit card from my wallet? My hands are kinda full." The woman's gaze moved to Rachel, who looked like she was sleeping peacefully under Finn's letterman jacket. Finn felt relief flood him as he stilled for a moment, feeling Rachel's chest rise and sink slowly against his.

"Wear her out soldier?" Finn blushed as the woman chuckled, sliding his card in and handing it to him, along with his wallet. Finn carefully got it along with the room key before smiling at the women, moving to room 302 at the end of the hallway. After much fumbling, Finn slid the key into the slot and opened the door, flipping the light on closing the door with the heel. He carefully walked to the bed and laid Rachel down, noticing her burned and ripped clothes and reached into her duffel bag, finding her shorts and his shirt. Finn gulped when he realized the challange that lay ahead.

Getting Rachel dressed.

* * *

Rachel blinked her bleary eyes to adjust to her surroundings. They were in some sort of dingy motel room. There was a TV in front of the bed, a small florescent light bulb flickering above them. The bed was covered in a bed spread that was covered in a weird quilt-like pattern and Rachel noticed the small light shimmering from the closed windows. Her head turned to the green digital clock on the stand. It read 6:28. The sun must have been setting to rise. As she stretched out her arms, a pain shot up her left side, causing her to double over and hit the person who was sleeping.

"Rachel?" Finn asked with a yawn. He opened his eyes to see Rachel's knees propped up while her arms were wrapped around her torso. Finn's head immediately shot up and it took him half a second before he was on his knees next to Rachel.

"Rachel? Are you okay?"

"It hurts Finn." Rachel said above a whisper, trying to get her body to relax. Finn pressed his lips against her forehead.

"Relax. Think of me, think of the lake." Rachel closed her eyes and imagined her and Finn, sitting by the lake just listening to the crickets chirp. She felt herself relax and let her back rest against the headboard, the tears starting to stream down her face. Everything was just so_ overwhelming. _

"Shhh. Calm down baby. We're going to be okay." Finn couldn't seem to find comfort in his own words. He just repeated them over and over, so that to some extent he would start believing them too. But the weirdest thing?

No matter how many times he repeated it, it couldn't get himself to believe it.

* * *

**What's up my fellow Gleeks! Or Finchel fans. I would like to tell you all a story. **

**The Fuinn rumors are not true. Please don't worry your pretty little heads. Like Ryan Murphy, Lea Michele and Cory Monteith have said; Finchel is it. It will be the end-game of the season and the reason for bringing them apart now is that they will come back stronger than ever. February is reported to be a fantastic month for our favorite couple, complete with a Valentine's Day episode that will hopefully bring us to our knees again back on Ryan Murphy's feet. **

***hides behind laptop* I know! We haven't been updating! We feel terrible. We've been too caught up in our own stories to have time to collaborate on a chapter for this one and with all this Finchel drama going on it's hard to think of them as lovey-dovey, but like I said.**

**Finchel is endgame.**

**Thanks!**

**CertfiedGleek  
**


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